MARINERS-L Archives

From: Paul Benyon <>
Subject: Re: [MAR] Royal Navy records
Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 14:19:14 +0100
References: <d04.2fafa5fe.3545f8d4@aol.com>
In-Reply-To: <d04.2fafa5fe.3545f8d4@aol.com>

Frank

It would appear that you may be one of the lucky ones - many people
have family stories passed down that a relative may have served in the
Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, but due to the fact that there
were no centralised records for ratings until 1853, it is nigh on
impossible for them to find that vital starting point - which in your
case would appear to be provided by the marriage bond - the National
Archives catalogue :

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp

tells us that the following documents, which may include mention of
your Richard HARPER, depending on when he joined the vessel and when
was discharged from thence to shore or his next ship :

Ships' Musters
ADM 36/12530Ship: CHICHESTER1797 Dec - 1799 Apr
ADM 36/13377Ship: CHICHESTER1799 Mar - 1800 Feb
ADM 36/15312Ship: CHICHESTER1800 Mar - 1802 Apr
ADM 36/16690Ship: CHICHESTER1802 Apr - 1803 Jun
ADM 36/16691Ship: CHICHESTER1803 Jul - 1804 Apr

Ships' Pay Books
ADM 35/334Ship: Chichester1793 Oct. 20 - 1798 Sept. 30
ADM 35/335Ship: Chichester1798 Oct. 1 - 1804 Aug. 31

The reason, if given, for discharge to shore, may well explain more.
But I suspect that a ropemaker living at Portsmouth may well be akin
to one of those reserved occupations that those who lived through WWII
might recognise, i.e. due to the large number of vessels in commission
during this period the Admiralty had great difficulty supplying
adequate quantities of rope to the dockyards and the fleet - a problem
much complained of by Nelson from time to time...........

Since you live in South Africa and since the muster lists are such
large books you may need to employ a researcher to discover when your
Richard served - see National Archives leaflet on researchers :

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/irlist/

Regards

Paul

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:49:50 +0200, "Frank Lyn"
<> wrote:

>Hi David H
>
>Thanks for your input. Very interesting. I'm pretty clueless about
>conditions in the 18th century Royal Navy. You say - if I understand
>correctly - that a man (or boy) signed on to a particular ship and remained
>with that vessel indefinitely, until he died, was disabled or transferred,
>at the Admiralty's pleasure, to another ship. Was there not a period of time
>after which he could legitimately resign from the Navy? Soldiers in the
>British Army were able to retire on pension after 21 years service. Did
>similar conditions
>apply in the Navy? I'd like to discover why my 2xg-grandpa was ashore making
>ropes at the age of 30, after "belonging" (sic) to HMS Chichester. If he was
>discharged from the Navy on grounds of ill-health or incapacity, his problem
>didn't impair his ability to work or produce offspring. Plainly he wasn't a
>deserter since he remained conspicuous in Portsmouth, a naval base, all of
>his long life, under his own name. Curious!
>
>Best wishes.
>Frank.
>South Africa.

On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:42:12 EDT, wrote:

>>
>>
>>Frank
>>
>>There are no "service records" from this period, likewise there was no
>>"service contract" - you signed on with a particular ship and stayed there until
>>the ship paid off or you were turned over to another ship. You could be
>>discharged before that due to health reasons, or of course you could desert.
>>
>>He may have left for lots of reasons - health may have been one of them, or
>>simply because the ship paid off. The only way to find out more would be to
>>check the Pay and Muster Books for the Chichester, now at The National
>>Archives at Kew, south London. These should show the date he joined and the date he
>>left, often with some info. on where he joined from and where he went to -
>>if it was another ship the name should be given, but it may simply show him
>>being discharged ashore.
>>
>>The Chichester was a 44 gun ship built at Itchenor in 1785. She was
>>converted to a Store ship in 1793-94 after which she sent to the West Indies
>>1794-95; Mediterranean 1795-96; Cape of Good Hope 1797-98; Mediterranean 1799-1800.
>>After a period of repair at Woolwich in 1800, the Chichester went on to see
>>more service in the Med and West Indies and North American stations until
>>paid off for the last time in 1807. She was broken up in 1815.
>>
>>
>>regards
>>
>>David H
>>>
>>>In a message dated 27/04/2008 15:43:25 GMT Standard Time,
>>> writes:
>>>
>>>One of my ancestors, Richard HARPER of Portsmouth, was in the Royal Navy
>>>during Nelson's time. Richard's marriage bond application dated 1799 states
>>>that he was a "Mariner belonging to HMS The Chichester". Between 1801 and
>>>1808 Richard disappears from my radar and I assume it was due to the RN
>>>being occupied with Napoleon. Thereafter he reamains ashore for the rest of
>>>his life working as a Ropemaker. Did he leave the RN because of injuries
>>>sustained, or because his service contract had expired? Is it possible to
>>>get hold of sailor's service records for this period?
>>>
>>>Best wishes.
50° 33' N 02° 26' W
http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html

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• Re: [MAR] Royal Navy records by Paul Benyon <>